The Secret Box
by Emily-at-random
Summary: Amu was abused by her uncle as a child, she finally escapes and later is adopted by Midori Hinamori. She now attends Seiyo high with her best friend Rima and meets the rest of the S.C cast. But how is she able to forget her past when it keeps coming back to haunt her?And why is she given a mysterious box? Amuto! Other pairings Rimahiko, Kutau, Yairi. random OCs. POSTPONED
1. Amu's new life

**Emmalee-san: My first fanfic! Lord i'm so nervous I hope you guys like it *jittery***

**Amu: You don't look so good...**

**Ikuto: She's just nervous, also her charger and her iPod died so she's suffering from internet deprivation -.-**

**Emmalee-san: You make it sound so stupid, shut up or I'm turning this into a tadamu fanfic!**

**Ikuto: Nooooooooo! *grabs amu and hugs her* Kiddy king can't have her!**

**Amu: *blushes* Let me go ikuto!**

**Tadase: *magically appears out of nowhere* Let her go you filthy cat!**

**Ikuto: Amu-koi is mine!**

**Ikuto & tadase: *Bickering* **

**Amu: -.- ...**

**Emmalee-san: Onwards! Amu please...**

**Amu: Emmalee-san Dosen't own shugo chara, peach pit does, the only thing she owns is her own characters and her ideas.**

**Emmalee-san: Arigato Amu, on with the story!**

**A\\N:** _Italic= Thoughts. _

**~Seven years ago~**

The shrill sound of glass shattering wrenched through the calm, quietness of the neighborhood, at least what was able to be called that. the 'neighborhood' consisted of only seven houses total all spread out in various places around the abandoned part of town. It was a sleezy looking neighborhood, which had mostly unshaved, raggedly dressed men with flashy jewelry that was obviously fake and seedy faces. The women were caked in makeup and wore revealing clothes and masked femenisim, with cheap jewelry hanging from their ears and around their necks. Most of the time they were drunk, what very few children there are, were eather easily intimidated and never left their houses or they behaved as rottenly as their parents did.

It was also a popular area for crime, it had gotten so bad that even the police had stopped making rounds in that particular area. No one seemed to noticed the crys and yells coming from the gray house on the corner, If one were to actually approach the little house with peeling paint and look through the grimy window, They would see a small little girl huddled in the corner with a drunk man screaming profanaties and throwing whatever he could lay his hands on.

"You brat!" he slurred drunkenly and unsteadly walked towards the table, picking up an almost empty gin bottle he threw it, it went sailing through the air and struck the wall just inches above the little girl in the corner. She was shivering and she looked up at him, her honey gold eyes were wide with terror. She gave a small cry as the glass that had shattered all over her bit into her arms, shoulders and neck. Gin trickled down her face intermixing with salty tears and sweat. "ach" She gave out a tiny yelp as the gin seeped into her open wounds that were now trickling small amounts of blood. "I should have never taken you in! you don't do nuth'in to help, I shoulda jus' told your bitch of a mother ta' dump you on someone else!" He cursed and screamed profanities at the girl, marching over to her he wrenched her up forcefully by her short, pink hair. "shuddup!" he slurred slapping her crying face. "Please, have mercy, i'll be a good girl! I swear I will!" She screamed pitifully, pleading him with her eyes to stop. in response he kicked her sending her small form crashing against the wall. "It's too late for that" his eyes danced wildly and the pinkette shreiked in fear. "your mama and daddy can't save you know little amu" he sniggered and stepped menacingly towards her. Amu squeezed her eyes shut tight and waited for a beating, but it never came. after a few minutes she cautiously opened one eye, he had fallen asleep in the middle of the floor. She sighed with relief and decided tonight was the night to put her plan into action, limping up the stairs she pulled out a tattered and frayed backpack, stuffing it with whatever she needed and quickly zipping it up, she slipped it unto her back and quietly as she could jumped from the second story window. Landing on the ground carefully she turned and ran down the street not looking back at her so called home. as she slipped off into the darkness she was given a slight happiness and relief she hadn't felt in years. _I'm finally free! _**~End of flashback~**

~Normal Pov~

Amu groaned as she rolled over in her bed and glanced at the ringing alarm clock. '7:45' it read. Her honey gold eyes widen and she gave an awkward flying leap out of bed. "I'm going to be late!" She shrieked and stumbled around to her wardrobe, wrenching open the doors she snatched the uniform that had been neatly hanging there. she flung off her pyjamas and frantically started getting dressed. "Ran, Mikki, Suu!" she yelled as she struggled into her black blazer. all of her charas popped out of thier eggs instanly. "ne amu-chan what is it" mikki said yawning. "Amu pointed at the clock and buttoned up the last of her blazer. "Late" she sighed. "Goodness me, we need to hurry ~desu" Suu chirped and followed amu downstairs along with ran and mikki.

~Time skip~

"There's the school" Amu huffed as she ran down the sidewalk towards the school. "Two minutes ~desu" cried suu, mikki quietly hovered after amu and ran sat on amu's shoulder cheering " hooray hoory amu-chan! go go amu-chan! fight fight amu-chan! you can make it amu-cha-" "Ran, shush please" Amu groaned in frustration. She ran up to the gate panting for breath. "that feels good" she smiled as the september breeze blew around her face, the red and gold leaves decorated the trees and flew around in the wind. Seiyo high was large but picturesque with it's high towers, fancy trimmings and cream colored walls. It looked especially pretty with the red and gold leaves of the trees surrounding it and the morning sun peeking through the building sending rays of light across the walkways. "wow" amu breathed. seiyo high looked amazing, Amu had studied hard to get accepted into seiyo under the encouragement of her step mom Midori, looking up at the lovely school amu decided that all the late hours of studying had been worth it. "Hey, are you going to just stand there like an idiot or actually go inside" Amu looked up quickly at the petit, blonde girl standing in front of her. 'Rima! you applied for seiyo too?" Amu was both surprised and happy, Rima had been her best friend since she'd moved in with her new foster parents four years ago, back then she hated and distrusted everyone, only rima had been able to break through her walls and prove to her that she wasn't alone. "No, I came to hunt elephants" rima rolled her golden eyes sarcastically and gave amu an 'of course I did you idiot' look. Amu let out a small laugh, rima was tough despite her looks, she only showed her soft side to amu though. "I should've known better than to ask such an obvious question, i'm just glad we can go to the same school together" Amu chirped happily. A small smile tugged at the corners of rima's lips as she linked arms with Amu "let's go or we'll be late" she and amu walked into the school building and her chara and amu's charas raced off to play in the school gardens.

~Amu's POV~

_Whoa_ School was HUGE I bet if I got lost i'd be wandering around for days, I'm glad I have rima with me, she has a better sense of direction than I do. "this way Amu" Rima tugged on my sleeve directing me towards a large auditorium, I opened the door cautiously just enough so we could slip in unnoticed. Some blonde girly looking guy was on the podium apparently explaining what we were expected to do this semester, I looked up to see him looking at us, and I felt myself start to panic _Calm down Amu, there are so many people here, he proabably isn't even looking at us. _Rima yanked on my arm and I realized I was standing completly still, I walked foward and found a seat next to rima, we sat down next to a purple headed girl and I pretended to focus on whatever that blonde boy was saying. "We are very glad to have all of you at our school" I swear he looked right at me when he said that, I stared back at his maroon eyes until after what seemed like forever he finally looked away. "Amu what's wrong with you today?" Rima elbowed me in the ribs. "It's nothing, just tired" I tried to lie. "mmhhhmmm" Rima narrowed her eyes at me. _dang it, she knows me too well_ However she said nothing and turned her attention back to the podium as the blonde kid or tadase as I found out later announced which class each student would be in, Rima and I are both in the moon class.

Finally we were all dismissed, I started walking to class with Rima following behind me gripping the end of my blazer. "You can walk beside me you know" I pointed out to her gently. "mmmf" was all she said. I sighed, Rima has always been attached to me ever since the first day we became friends ~Flashback~

"ugly pink, ugly pink" Some girls taunted standing around me and yanking on my hair. "stop" I could barely whisper, I didn't have the courage to raise my voice. "What's that ugly pink? trying to talk?" Lulu yanked extra hard on a fistful of my hair. "cut it out" I quickly looked up to see a really small girl with long blonde hair and golden eyes march up to lulu. "Leave me alone tiny girl, this isn't any of your business" Lulu smirked and kicked my shin so I fell down, she seemed satisfied when I yelped in pain. "What did you call me?" There was a dangerous look in the small girls eyes that made lulu flinch. "I said you're a little girl" she retorted bravely. The tiny girl's fist suddenly shot out stopping an inch away from lulu's face. "kya" lulu yelped and fell backwards into the ground. "leave, or I won't be so nice next time" She hissed. I watched lulu and the other girls scramble away before noticing the hand held out to me. "thanks" I sniffed and took her hand. "You shouldn't let them pick on you like that, you need to defend yourself" she studied me for a second. "I'm Rima" She stated bluntly. "Amu" I nodded at her. "Nice to meet'cha" ~End of flashback~

"Helllooo Earth to amu" Rima said waving a hand in front of my face. "Wha- huh?" I gave her a confused look. "You're going the wrong way" I looked up and noticed we were in the 2nd year hall. "oh" was all I could say. Rima just rolled her eyes and grabbed my arm "Amu you're such a ditz" She led us back into the main hallway and we went to the freshman hall. You see the neat thing about this school is they, 1st years through 4th years, have their own halls, which makes it easier to find where you need to go. As we walked through the crowded halls trying to get to our class I ended up having to practically drag rima along because she was so small, there was barely any elbow room to walk or get where we needed to be. Suddenly I lost my grip on rima and she fell backwards, mentally I panicked _Rima was swept away by the crowd! _"Rima!" I shouted for her and scanned the crowd. _Where could she be _I pressed against the crowd before finally spotting her, that same purple headed girl from before was helping her up while rima struggled to shake them off, she was probably telling the purple haired girl that she was fine. "Rima" I called to her as I walked towards her, coming closer though I realized that the purple head girl was actually a boy. "Leave me alone you cross-dresser" I heard Rima say before she suddenly spotted me. "There you are!" She shouted and gave me a look of didain. "sorry sorry" I mumbled and ignored her glares. I saw purple head get up "I'm fujisaki nagihiko" He said and held out his hand. Was he stupid, why would he give his name to a couple of girls he dosen't even know. "Hinamori Amu" I shook his hand putting on my cool facade. "This is Rima" I added when I realized she wasn't going to say her name or stop hiding behind me. Rima glared and let out a low growl. "Pleased to meet you, are you new to seiyo" He asked polietly. "yah, we are" I shrugged "Do you happen to know where moon class is?" I figured I might as well ask before we go on a wild goose chase throughout the school. He brightened and gave us a large smile "that's my class too, i'll show you where it is" He led us through the throngs of students to an oak sliding door with a cresent moon carved on it. "This is it" He said opening the door. "Thanks" I said walking in with Rima still behind me clutching the back of my blazer. I heard mumurs from my classmates as we stepped into the room. 'cool'n'spicy' 'she's so tiny' they whispered stuff like that until Rima and I shot them all glares, instantly they all shut up. "Hinamori-san, mashiro-san, you can go sit over there" Sensei pointed to two desks near the windows. I nodded and rima followed me as we walked over and sat in our desks. I noticed that tadase was sitting across from me, staring. _What the hell?_ I gave him a glare and he instantly turned back to face the front of the room. "Weirdo" I muttered. Nagihiko who was sitting behind rima gave her a friendly smile, I felt bad for him when rima ignored him and turned away coldly. But he just kept smiling. In front of me there was an orange haired girl with her hair in two short ponytails with big red bows, she was sucking on a lollipop and bouncing up and down in her seat. Behind me sat a boy with mint green hair and large glasses, he looked like an inchou to me with his stack of books, and perfectly sharpened pencils, his hands folded neatly on his desk. I turned back around focusing on what the teacher was saying, ignoring the fact that tadase was openly staring at me again. _what's his problem_ I took out my textbook, this was going to be a long morning

~Lunchtime~

The bell finally rang And I sighed with relief, apparently tadase is in all of my classes, so are rima, nagi, yaya, and kairi whom i'd gotten to know the three of them in between classes, but they were fine, they didn't stare at me the whole time like some creep. "Amu let's go eat lunch outside" Rima tugged on my sleeve and I nodded as I shoved my books into my locker, grabbing my lunch bag and heading outside to eat lunch with rima, nagi, kairi, yaya and some other unfamilar people. There were two more guys and two more girls sitting with them. "Amu-chi!" Yaya screeched like she hadn't seen me in years, she jumped up and tackled me into a bear hug making me fall over and hit the ground hard. "Ach, It's nice to see you too now get off" I demanded in a cool voice. Yaya giggled "sorry" She got up and I picked myself up off the ground dusting myself off. Rima looked like she was going to bite yaya's head off, and yaya just gave her an innocent smile. Nagi cleared his throat "Guys this Mashiro Rima and Hinamori Amu" He said gesturing to us. "They're new first years here" He motioned for us to sit down, so I flopped on the ground, Rima sat beside me with a little more grace and nagi introduced us the rest of the the group. There was Kukai Souma he was an easygoing and sporty looking guy with auburn hair and green eyes. Next was Tsukiyomi Utau, she was confident and cool, she looked like a model with her tall perfectly curved body, her long blonde hair tied up in two ponytails and her lavendar eyes that flashed whenever she spoke. Then there was fujisaki Nadeshiko, she was Nagihiko's twin sister, she looked and acted just like him, it was amazing how two twin's personalities can even be the same! ((A\\N: I decided to make Nadeshiko and Nagihiko two different people because it's more interesting that way** ))** Then last of all there was Tsukiyomi Ikuto, he was a player at least that was what he looked like with his messy midnight blue hair and violet eyes, he had to be at least a foot taller than me and wore an annoying smirk that pissed me off. They said their greetings and I simply nodded in response. I noticed tadase was staring at me yet again. "Can I help you with something?" I said sarcastically and watched him turn several shades of red. "n-no It's nothing" he choked out, everyone wore amused looks on their faces, all except Rima who glared dangerously at tadase bringing an awkward silence to the group. "I wanna show you something I read in a gag manga!" Yaya yelled jumping up, apparently she's the type of person who can't stand silence or awkward situations, although she causes enough of them herself. "Bala-balance!" She giggled and made a ridiculous pose which basically was her arms forming a 'C' shape as she pointed both fingers to the left side of her head and crossed her left leg over her right one making it look like a number four. We all sweatdropped, I looked over to see Rima producing a dark aura _Oh crap, she's gonna do it!_ "That's not how it's done, what a shameful production of comedy" Her voice shook angrily and she jumped up with amazing speed, character changing with kusukusu. "It's bala- balanc-" she started to form the pose but I tackled her to the ground, she would never forgive herself afterwards if she did that in front of them. "Rima snap out it" I whapped her on the face and her character change instantly dissapeared. "oops" was all she said and we looked up to see everyones faces, tadase and kukai wore odd little half smiles as if they didn't know what to make of it, nadeshiko and utau looked stunned, yaya was cheering, ikuto was smirking and nagi was just grinning. "uhhh" I got up and helped rima up off the ground. "stop smiling purple head!" she shreiked at nagi and his grin got wider. "Why? are you afraid we'll all find out you love gags?" He smirked, Rima paled at little and glared at him "shut your face" she growled. "not for a _midget _like you" he wore a triumphant look and I had to grab both of rima's arms to keep her from stabbing him with her plastic fork. "TAKE THAT BACK" she screamed. "Not until you start calling me by my real name" he crossed his arms over his chest, this was getting nowhere. "I won't you little loser!" she yelled. "you're the little one" nagi retorted calmly. "I swear to god I will murder him! Amu let me go!" she stabbed her fork viscously into the air as if she were stabbing him already. "Rima calm down" I snatched the fork out of her hand and started petting her head, after a little while she had calmed down and clung to me like a koala which was perfectly normal for her to do. "Don't tease her about her height, she can't help it that she's short, she might literally murder you if you aren't careful" I gave nagi a warning look. Yaya ruined the impact of the threat though, she tackled rima and I in a hug. "Yaya wants to hug too" she whined. I saw Ikuto was staring at my arm and realized when yaya had tackled us that my sleeve had slid up revealing a large amount of scars with a large one in the shape of a rose. I felt my eyes widen and quickly yanked down my sleeve hoping that no one else had noticed.

~Normal POV~

The bell rang while the small group got up and dispersed to their seperate classes. All of them ended up having the same gym period, they all stood in lines, girls on on side of the room and boys on the other. "Alright, today we're doing tug of war, it'll be boys against girls, line up so I can divide you into groups" Their sensei announced. "What the heck? We do tug of war in gym class?" Rima whispered to Amu. "I have no clue, but why do we have to go against boys?" Amu whispered back and Rima merely shrugged as they walked over to their group, which was yaya, utau, some girl named kazumi, rima and amu. "Let's do this!" Yaya chirped. "I feel so competetive, we'll crush those boys!" Utau had a competetive gleam in her eyes, and Rima lit up like flame when she saw the group they were going against, it was kukai, ikuto, nagihiko, some other guy and kairi. "I'll make that purple head feel the wrath of Rima" She balled her fists angrily. for such a small girl Amu knew Rima had the power to lift a bus if she wanted to. "Yes you can teach him not to make fun of your size" Amu snickered and encouraged rima who was already ready to kill. Kazumi said nothing and stared at the floor, one couldn't help but notice how exteremly long her dark purple hair was, it swung down almost reaching her ankles and was tied up in a ponytail, her emerald green eyes didn't reach anyone but stayed fixed on the floor as if she were waiting for something to happen. Amu knew she recognized her from somewhere but she couldn't think of where. _The alleys? the orphange? the fosters office?_ She didn't have the time to think about it before the teacher announced it was time to start. All of them got into their places and griped the rope firmly, the guys did the same, Utau and Kukai were flashing competetive looks at each other and Rima looked like she would squash Nagi at any given moment. "And... Start!" the teacher blew the whistle, instantly everyone was pulling on the rope as hard as he or she could. "Dang it pull harder!" Screeched utau as the guys easily pulled them towards the center line, "What's wrong Utau" Shouted Kukai as he let out any easy grin "Are we playing too rough" He taunted her just enough to get her to screech at him telling him to shut up. Suddenly the guys unexpectedly jolted foward, Amu, Rima and Kazumi were pulling as hard as they could effectivly winning. "what the heck?!" Kukai yelled, Nagi looked stunned. Ikuto and the other guy, his name was Tieto jerked on the rope and pulled harder. Kairi tried, but he seemed to have given up on physical activities like sports. "Nononono Yaya wants to win!" She yelled at the top of her lungs and joined with the rest of the girls tugging harder. Rima let out a small shriek that startled everyone except for Kazumi and Amu, getting the hint the three of them together quickly pulled and in one mighty tug the boys fell over the line. "Hey" Kukai spluttered. "That's not playing fair" "I don't play fair Souma" Amu smirked. Utau was on the ground laughing "Y-you guys looked so ridiculous" She burst into a fit of laughter remembering how awkwardly they fell. Kazumi gave a small smile which instantly dissappeared when she saw teito charging at her. "I'm going to have to tickle you now as punishment" Kazumi screeched and took off running towards the other end of the gym with teito on her heels. "Yaya won! Yaya won!" Yaya yelled jumping up and down like a little girl. Amu felt something on her leg, insinctively she looked down just in time to see the rope used for tug of war tighten, suddenly someone tugged harshly on it causing her right foot to fly out from underneath her "Kya" she gave a cry of surprise and tumbled into Ikuto's lap. ((I couldn't resist :} )) Ikuto wrapped his arms around her as she pulled her now extermely red face from his chest. "W-what are you doing?!" She spluttered, Ikuto smirked at her as she struggled to get free "I'm just teaching you a lesson ichigo-koi, it's not nice to cheat" He gave her a fake pout. "It's not cheating if you fell for it, And i'm not a strawberry! now let me go" Her face was redder than a tomato now and she thrashed around vainly trying to escape. Ikuto's smirk got bigger as her held her tighter "But you smell like strawberries" He countered smelling her hair. "What are you a smell pervert? Let me go!" She glared at him. He pulled her against his chest and petted her hair. "Now now Amu-koi you should know that it takes one to know one" She reddened and said nothing. Ikuto smirked _So she gave up_ "RIMA!" Amu suddenly shrieked, Rima turned around from where she was apparently bickering with Nagi and spotted Ikuto holding Amu. Suddenly a powerful dark aura surrounded Rima and she strode over to them. "Dare you touch my Amu" She kicked Ikuto in ribs, He groaned and fell over releasing his hold on Amu who quickly scrambled over to Rima. "Next time you won't be so lucky" Rima growled as she grabbed unto the front of Amu's shirt, they turned and left Ikuto to suffer on the floor, he was holding his side muttering curses. _That little blonde devil_ He thought to himself as he stood up, that was going to leave a bruise. He saw Amu turn around and stick out her tounge at him before quickly turning back around, "Just wait until you don't have your demon friend around to protect you" He said quietly to himself smirking.

~After school~ (( I'm too lazy to type the rest of the school day))

Amu and Rima walked home from school with their new group of friends, they learnt that both the fujisaki's and yaya lived in their neighborhood so they decided to walk together, they invited the others but Kukai and Utau had told them they were going to have a ramen eating contest after school, kairi said he had to study and they didn't even bother asking ikuto or tadase. "Such lovely weather" Hummed nadeshiko and the others nodded in agreement. Amu and Rima decided to have their charas ride in their bags so it would be less of a bother. Nobody not even yaya uttered a word as they walked along captivated by the lovely scenery and nice weather. When they had reached their homes they all waved to each other and parted their seperate ways. Amu unlocked the door to her house, she said hello to Midori and ambled up to her room, flopping on her bed she let out a contented sigh, so far everything had gone as planned. She dozed off in the warm afternoon sun, not realizing that the sun was setting and darkness would come again.

**Emmalee-san: Done! I can't tell if it's short or not, it seemed longer when I wrote it, I'm stopping it here for now because I ran out of ideas, please tell me what you think ^^**

**Amu & Ikuto: ...**

**Emmalee-san: What?**

**Amu: The beginning was dark 0.0**

**Emmalee-san: Yeah, yeah I know, but it's interesting.**

**Ikuto: That kind of thing happened to ****_my _****Amu *Hugs Amu protectively* No! At least we had an amuto moment!**

**Amu: you got kicked in the ribs by Rima -.-**

**Ikuto: *glares at Emmalee***

**Emmalee-san: Ehehehe Read and Review! *Dashes away***

**Ikuto: *Pulls out chainsaw and chases after emmalee***


	2. Fate comes in a box?

**Emmalee-san: Sorry the first chapter was so boring. I also noticed a couple spelling mistakes, sorry its my first time writing so I'm new to the whole thing, I'll work harder to make the next updates more interesting.**

**Ikuto: And add better Amuto**

**Emmalee-san: Yah, I will**

**Kazumi: Why was I in it? I'm not even from the same time period.**

**Emmalee-san: Because I felt like adding you and Teito in the story, so hush up and let me write.**

**Yoru: *Falls from the sky* Emmalee-san does not own Shugo Chara nor will she ever ~Nya**

**Emmalee-san: Yoru! *Huggles yoru* Onwards!**

**Yoru: Help me! ~Nya**

_**~You Can't escape, the darkness is always near, never far, waiting for you to fall~**_

Every person has a dark area in their hearts, It is either buried deep inside or lying just below the surface, masked by smiles and false security. We all need someone to save us from it, but not everyone is rescued. Amu Hinamori never had anyone to depend on to save her from the pain. She saved herself, she didn't believe in depending on others. She had cried alone, her screams unheard, her pleas unanswered, her heart was shattered to pieces. Completely and utterly alone.

_Why is it so dark? I feel warm but yet I am so cold, what is this? She wandered around in the darkness until she came to a small porthole with a dim light glowing inside of it. Cautiously she peeped through the porthole, Images suddenly flashed by in the porthole, Blood. Crimson red blood flowing down the dark sidewalk, the murmurs of voices and the overpowering smell. why so cold? He doesn't move, his body lifeless, his eyes are glassy. "Wake up papa, Wake up!" A little pink haired girl bent over her father with tears streaming down her face. "Open your eyes" She sobbed hysterically. "Look at me papa, look at your little girl and tell me everything will be okay!" She pounded her tiny fists on the sidewalk shoving away all those who tried to comfort the grieving five year old. Suddenly the scene changed, The pinkette was older, she stood on the steps of an eerily familiar house. "Bye bye Amu" All she saw was the cruel smile of her mother as she walk away arm in arm with a unfamiliar man. the girl sniffled and turned around as she felt a rough grip on her shoulder, her eyes widened in fear. The scene changed again, This time it was a fifteen year old girl with long pink hair asleep in the darkness of her bedroom. "Do you fear the darkness?" Amu gasped realizing that the girl in the bed was her, "I know your deepest fears" A mysterious voice cooed ominously. A black clawlike hand reached slowly for the girl and suddenly she was running, but she kept tripping and stumbling. "You can't escape the darkness, It will always be close by" The hand reached out for her, it almost had her, slowly it started to grab her._

"NOOO!" Amu screamed and shot up, falling out of her bed and hitting the floor with a loud thud. _It was just a dream_ She panted. "Thank God". "Ne what's wrong Amu-chan?" Ran asked as she rolled out of her egg and rubbed her eyes sleepily. "Just had a bad dream" Amu reassured her. She was covered in sweat, shakily she put her hand over her heart and tried to slow her irregular heartbeat. Ran went back to sleep, Amu looked over at the clock. "3am" she muttered. "There's no way I can go back to sleep after a dream like that". _I'll go take a shower_ She stood up and walked shakily over to the bathroom, shutting the door and locking it she ambled over to the mirror. _I look like a wreck. _Her honey gold eyes were red and puffy, her bubblegum pink hair was in tangled, all messed up, her face looked pale and sickly. _Maybe if I take a shower I'll look better afterwards. _She turned on the hot water, adding just a tiny bit of cold, stripped off her sweaty tank top and pyjama bottoms, then she stepped into the shower. "ahh" she sighed contentedly as the warm water soaked her skin calming her nerves, after the shower she stepped into her bedroom with a strawberry decorated towel wrapped around her body and one wrapped like a turban around her head. She went over to her dresser and pulled out black jeans, a purple V-neck top and a black netted vest. ((I haven't much fashion sense, but I like gothic)) She slowly dressed then sat on her bed towel drying her long pink hair. "Why now?" She put her head in her hands and groaned in frustration. _I'll take a short walk.._

Amu snuck as quietly as she could down the stairs hoping not to disturb her charas or her Mom. _Careful... careful.. WAH_ Amu tripped on a sock and slipped down half of the stairs, catching herself halfway. "Oh man that was loud" Amu cringed and waited for someone to come investigate, after waiting a few minutes no one had come, so Amu slowly stood up cringing as she felt a bruise on her leg. Painfully she tiptoed down the rest of the stairs, slipping on her black converse she easily slid out the door and into the cool early morning air. Amu She slowly inhaled feeling her body relax she walked over to the park and sat down on a bench closing her eyes.

Several minutes, seconds, hours? Amu didn't know but it seemed as if she had just closed her eyes when a bright light flashed, she could see it through her closed eyelids. instantaneously her eyes snapped open, she bolted upright on the bench. There stood two people, The first one was a man who looked to be about in his thirties, he had clear blue eyes and light blonde hair, He was probably around five foot eleven and wore a white work shirt, Gray jeans and army boots. The person next to him was a woman probably in her late twenties, she had short auburn hair and flashing green eyes, probably five foot six. She was wearing a white work shirt as well, it was tucked into her tan slacks and she also wore army boots. "N-Nani?" Amu rubbed her eyes, "Hinamori Amu" The man's deep voice rumbled, She just stared. "Where did you come from?" She gave him an inquiring look and waited for him to explain their presence. "We are guardians, sent here by our boss to make sure you receive an important treasure". "Huh? Guardians? who the heck are you people?!" Amu looked agitated, the woman stepped forward "I'm Nikki and this is Chase" she said briskly jutting her thumb out towards the older man. "We're guardians, an underground agency dedicated to help abused or once abused kids like yourself" She waited a few seconds to see if Amu was taking it in. "We've been sent here on a mission and to give you something important" "O-okay" Amu slowly responded _Should I trust them or not... _"Good, now you understand" Nikki shoved something quickly into Amu's hands. "This is yours, keep it near you and don't ever lose it, Don't open it either" Amu could make out the shape of a tiny box in her hands. "What is this?" "It contains the ability to change your future and the power to become who you want to, but don't lose it or else your life will be in danger, got it?" Amu nodded head mouth was dry, inside her head a million questions were firing all over the place. "We've gotta leave" Nikki grabbed chase's arm, "sorry we'll explain later, don't lose that box" Chase shouted as he ran with Nikki, there was a blinding flash of light, Amu looked over to where they had been standing. They had disappeared.

_Can this morning get any weirder? _Amu sighed as she studied the small box in her hand, testing it's weight in her hand she brought it over to a street lamp so she could examine it more closely. It was a faded dark green decorated with tiny white flowers that had violet tipped ends, slightly brown vines were splayed among them, it had a tiny silver latch that kept the lid securely on. "Wow" Amu breathed, it was beautiful. Sighing she stroked the lid of the box and stood up _I wonder why I'm not allowed to open it_ "Hmmm curiosity killed the cat" She mumbled. _I need to find something else to do _She walked over to one of the swing sets and plopped down proceeding to swing to and fro, "Far away, across the sea" She suddenly remembered a song she had heard when she was younger, she sung softly.

_**Far away; across the sea; glowing dim as an ember; **_

_**Soon you'll be; home with me.**_

_**Once upon a december~**_

_**Someone holds me safe and warm;**_

_**Horses prance through a silver storm;**_

_**Figures dancing gracefully;**_

_**Across my memory~**_

_**Far away; across the sea;**_

_**Glowing dim as an ember;**_

_**And a song;**_

_**Someone sang;**_

_**Once upon;**_

_**A December~**_

**(**Song from the Disney movie Anastasia**)**

She slowly closed her eyes and hummed the rest of the song that she didn't know the lyrics to, re-opening her gold eyes she found herself looking into clouded blue ones. "Wah!" She jumped in surprise, punching the person in the stomach. "Ach" Ikuto doubled over in pain. "G-gomen" Amu panicked, springing off the swing she rushed over to Ikuto who was on the ground gasping for air. She whapped him quickly on the back and he started to breathe again. "Wh-what the heck" He gasped and glared up at her. "I'm so sorry! I do that by reflex, are you okay?" She gave him an odd little half grin. "Do you always punch people so violently" Ikuto sat up and brushed the dirt from his shoulders. "Sometimes" Amu shrugged and held out her hand to help him up. He reached up and took her hand, he gave her a sly smirk, quickly he pulled her down, she tumbled to the ground next to him. "Nevermind, I take back what I said before, I'm glad I punched you" Amu said giving him a glare. "That's mean Amu-koi" Ikuto suddenly slipped behind her and wrapped his arms around her from behind. "Let me go or I'll punch you again, you perverted neko" She turned her body halfway around trying to reach him so she could punch him but landed in his lap.

"If you wanted to sit in my lap you should have just told me so" Ikuto grinned looking down at her, enjoying how her face turned several shades of red. _She's too cute_. "I'll kill you..." Amu threatened jumping out of his lap. "I'm so scared" He taunted, making an overexaggerated scared face. Amu huffed and turned her back to him. "What are you doing here" He walked over to the nearest bench and sat down. "It's a public park, and I should ask you the same question. Shouldn't good little kids like you be still asleep". He retorted calmly. "Yeah well I couldn't sleep and needed fresh air" She shrugged, kicking a pebble and looking at the dark sky that was just beginning to turn a lighter shade of blue. "Hmm nightmares?" he said lazily. "Mmm something like that" Amu said not looking away from the sky.

"I know something that will fix that" Ikuto said, coming up behind her he covered her eyes with one hand and took her hand gently with his other one. "Ikuto, what are you doing?" Amu tried to pry his hand from over her eyes. "It's a surprise, just keep your eyes closed" She stopped trying to pry his hand away and stood rigid. "Trust me" He added. Noticing she relaxed a little and nodded, he led her out of the park.

~Time skip~

"Okay, you can look now" Ikuto said huskily as he released her hand. Amu cautiously cracked open one eye. "Wow" She smiled and both of her eyes widened with amazement. Surrounding them were thousands of flowers all different colors, weeping willows bent over a river that flowed nearby, they stood on the edge of a river bank. The canopy of trees that surrounded them were comforting and gave off a pleasant shade. Vines wound around the trees decorated in moss and mushrooms. The river was clear and cool with a few orangish fish swimming around, a few large rocks rested at the end of the bank, shaded by the weeping willows. "It's so beautiful" she whispered softly. Ikuto smiled. "Isn't it? My dad and I found this place a couple of years back, I used to come here all the time to escape Utau's constant nagging" Amu gave him a small smile, She could picture it very easily. "So you can smile around others" Ikuto grinned at Amu conclusively. "Huh? What?" Amu gave him a confused look. "You never smile around anyone but Rima, I was beginning to wonder if you could smile around other people"He said and gave her a half smile. "Oh" Amu looked down uncomfortably. "Smiles don't come to me easily". "And why is that?" Ikuto prodded as he lay down comfortably in the grass and looked at Amu who was sitting next to him.

"It's just... my life hasn't exactly given me anything to smile about until three years ago" She shifted uncomfortably averting her eyes from his face. Ikuto studied her for a moment. "Care to tell me about it?" "I... can't" Amu's voice was strained, quickly she hid her face in her hands trying to barricade the sob that rose inside her throat. She felt strong arms wrap around her and Ikuto pulled her into a hug. "It's okay, you don't have to tell me" he said in a soothing voice as her rubbed her back comfortingly. She let out a small sob and buried her head in his chest, she cried silently,letting out all her pent up emotions, her tears soaking the front of his shirt, He didn't mind and continued to rub her back, play with her hair and whispered soothing words to her.

After some time Amu raised her tear stained face to look at him. "S-sorry" She hiccuped. He gave her a warm smile, pulling her to his chest he stroked her head. "It's okay, even the strongest people need to cry sometimes" Amu nodded weakly and they sat in comfortable silence for a long time. "So.." Amu finally broke the silence. "Hmm?" Ikuto responded as he continued to run his fingers through her silky hair. "What kind of person is your dad?" He stopped stroking her hair and slipped his arm around her waist. "Why do you want know, are you interested in me?" He teased lightly. "Not a chance" Amu reddened slightly even though she knew he was only kidding. "I'm just curious that's all". Ikuto rubbed his chin giving it some thought. "He's fun to be with, he teases a lot but after awhile you get used to it. He's actually a kind person and a talented musician." "Wow, It sounds like you respect your father a lot" Amu smiled. "I look up to him" Ikuto admitted as he shrugged causing Amu's smile to grow bigger. "He sounds like a great dad, I'd like to meet him one day" She said and Ikuto grinned. He gently took her chin and turned her head so that she could look into his eyes. "Would you really?" He chuckled deeply as Gold met Violet. Amu nodded slowly and he let go of her chin. "Maybe someday" He smiled warmly. _Why is it that when I'm with Ikuto i feel so safe?_ Amu thought sleepily and her eyelids started to close from exhaustion. It was so calm, peaceful. she felt so safe here.

Amu hadn't realized she'd fallen asleep until she was jolted awake by Ran's shouting. "Huh?" Amu sat up and sleepily rubbed her eyes. "You've been out like a light for hours Amu-chan" Mikki said with a smile. "what were you doing out at four in the morning? and with Ikuto bringing you home no less ~desu." Suu giggled. "Eh- What?" Amu shrieked. "He was carrying you princess style, he even laid you on your bed" snickered Mikki who was obviously enjoying her owner's discomfort. Amu hid herself under her covers, "I can't believe that happened" she whimpered and pressed her hands to her burning cheeks. _I cried, but not only that I fell asleep on him. That's so awkward and embarrassing _She wanted to curl up and die. "Amu-chan it's Saturday! You should go outside!" Ran waved her Pom poms in the air enthusiastically.

Several minutes later Amu was walking along the street with her charas in tow. "Amu-chi!" She heard Yaya's familiar screech. "Eh?" Amu looked up to see the whole group together which included a miserable looking Rima. "Yaya forced me to come with her" Rima said boredly as Amu walked up to the group. "How did she do that?" Amu asked her as Rima grabbed onto her sleeve tightly. "I told her if she didn't I'd hide all of her gag manga" Yaya said cheerfully. "Well played" Amu remarked earning an elbow jab in the side from Rima. "We're going to the amusement park, actually we were just on our way to ask you if you wanted to join" Tadase said eagerly. Amu felt like saying no, especially since Tadase was creeping her out. But the look on Rima's face... "Stop" Amu covered her eyes quickly. "Quit giving me that look!". "What look?" Rima feigned innocence, continuing to look at Amu with a sad, hopeful look on her face. "Dang it Rima, fine, fine I'll go! Just stop" Amu glared at Rima who wore a triumphant look. "Works every time". Everybody looked at them with amused grins on their faces, It was obvious Rima could make Amu bend to her whim when she wanted to. "Then what are we standing around here for, LETS GO!" Yaya squealed with excitement and dashed off in the direction of the amusement park with everyone following behind trying to catch up to her.

~Time skip~

Amu wobbled unsteadily off the roller coaster with Rima grinning beside her. Rima of all people knew she absolutely hated roller coasters but insisted on going anyways while dragging a kicking screaming Amu with her. "Let's do that a again" Rima had an evil glint in her eyes. "No! Never again!" Amu gasped in desperation. "But it's so funny to see you freak out like that" Rima smiled mischievously and laughed at the look Amu shot her. "S-sadist" Amu panicked. "Calm down Amu" Utau Rolled her eyes, "I can't believe you actually let yourself get dragged around by this little blonde midge-" Amu covered her hand quickly over Utau's mouth. "Watch what you say, she's more dangerous then she looks" Amu hissed quietly. Utau gave her an incredulous look. "Let's go on that next!" Yaya pointed at a haunted house. _Dark, scary..._ Amu shivered. "I'll just stay out here..." Utau turned around giving her a smirk. "What's wrong Amu? Scared of the dark" She teased trying to get Amu to come with her in her own strange method. But unfortunately for Utau it did nothing to affect Amu who just sat there with a stoic expression on her face, she crossed her arms under her chest as she refused to budge from her seat. "Yaya will give you candy" the overly hyper brunette offered hopefully. Amu just shook her head. "I'll hold your hand so you won't be scared" Tadase suggest. But Amu only shook her head harder. "Amu if you don't come I'll make you ride roller coasters with me for the rest of the day" Rima threatened. All of the biggest and scariest ones too" She added and gave her the sad look that usually affected Amu every time. "No" the pinkette said firmly with a most determined look, her eyes showed a slight bit of fear but it immediately disappeared and was replaced with a blank expression. "I'll buy you some cotton candy..." Kukai urged, earning a harsh look from Utau, it was obvious Amu was in discomfort and didn't want any more pressure. "Cut it out guys, stop with the bribery and threats, I'm sorry but I'm not going and that's that"

Rima's face was puzzled, she couldn't speak. This was the first time Amu had been so stubborn. She said nothing and turned away from the bench where Amu sat. She shuffled towards the haunted house slowly followed by the others who were equally bewildered, even Ikuto had a questioning look on his usually calm face.

Amu sighed and closed her eyes, leaning against the back of the bench. _I'm not scared of the dark, It's what's inside the dark that I'm scared of. _She knew that if she entered the spooky place it would bring back those memories and she'd probably have a mental breakdown. That would be bad. Then she would have to explain what was wrong to the others afterwards and she didn't want to go through that. Rima would probably get mad at her because she had kept something so drastic, important a secret, but Amu could care less at that moment.

Extra weight shifted on the bench as someone sat down. Amu's eyes flitted open, turning she saw Tadase sitting next to her with a concerned expression on his face. "Why didn't you go with them?" Amu frowned before a look of confusion settled on her face. "I couldn't help but notice that something was bothering you Hinamori-san and was wondering if there is something I could do to help" Tadase gave her a gentle, worried look."No, nothing you can help with" Amu mumbled, looking up at the sky, It was such a clear blue with fluffy cotton candy shaped clouds. It was hard to believe that so many tragedies had happened under the same, now innocent looking sky. Tadase reached out and squeezed her hand gently, she turned to look up at him. "As your friends we are concerned about you Hinamori-san, and we'll do anything we can to help you, even if we can't help you at this moment, we are still here for you and will try our hardest to be there when you need us." He said giving her a soft smile. "I really want to help you Hinamori-san, I don't like it when you're sad. I think your smiling face is much prettier." He looked over at Amu who was staring at the ground. the fringe of her hair covered her face so you couldn't see her facial expression. "Hinamori-sa-" "Amu" she said suddenly interrupting him. "Eh? What?" He stuttered confused. "You can just call me Amu" she said softly as she looked up and gave him a tiny smile. He felt his heart thump strangely. "Amu" he tested her name on his tongue. "Is it alright if you could please address me by my first name as well?" he asked carefully trying not to push his luck. "Alright Tadase-kun" Amu whispered with a ghost of a smile still remaining on her face. Tadase blushed slightly, she had used an honorary but he didn't care, he loved how nice his name sounded coming from her lovely voice. _When she says my name it sounds so special, why is that?_ They spent the rest of the time chatting lightly as they waited for the others to return. And after ten minutes or so the group came back to the benches, Rima said it had been completely boring which meant it must have been very scary. Nagihiko was happy that Amu had finally warmed up to Tadase, the blonde liked Amu very much as was evident and felt dissapointed that she thought he was weird and wouldn't even talk to him. But his face was now filled with happiness, wearing a bright smile on his face he stood talking with the pinkette eagerly, not even noticing the looks directed at him by a certain blue neko.

~Time Skip~

It was nearly sunset when the group decided it was time to leave. Utau and Kukai were worn out from all the energy they had burned off from challenging each other to races and such, although neither one would admit to it. Yaya had fallen asleep and Kairi tried to carry her but failed, so they just ended up borrowing a wheelie cart and stuffed her in there. She looked like a baby doll, her eyes were closed peacefully above her flushed cheeks and still smiling mouth. her arms rested underneath her head comfortably. she breathed evenly not even noticing she'd been crammed into a cart and Kairi was pushing her down the sidewalk. she was out like a light. Nadeshiko had left earlier because she had dance practice. Rima and Nagihiko were having yet another staring contest. Nagi wasn't easy to defeat, he took dance which required much paitience and ability. Rima on the other hand was equally matched, she looked at him unflinchingly, in comedy it was sometimes required to be able to not laugh, which was sometimes used in particular gags. Also when it came to seriousness Rima could go above and beyond that defenition, she had trained herself to do that ever since she was but a young girl. Amu walked down the street in between Ikuto, who was on her left side and Tadase, who was on her right side. There was an uncomfortable silence as the two eyed each other, daring the other to just try making a move on Amu.

Amu sighed and fingered the special box in her pocket. _Why are they acting like this? ... Wah! _Amu tripped over a crack in the cement, she closed her eyes and waited for the impact of her body hitting the sidewalk. but nothing happened. She opened both of her eyes to see that Ikuto had caught her with one hand and Tadase had caught her with his hand as well. **(**Like in the last chapter of shugo chara encore ;3**)** Yaya woke up from the racket and rubbed her eyes sleepily. "Is Amu-chi okay?!" She looked around. "AND WHY IS YAYA IN A CART?!" She jumped out of the cart and rushed towards Amu, but stopped suddenly and picked something up. "Look what Yaya found!" She said excitedly and produced Amu's tiny box in her hand. _The box! _Amu patted her pocket frantically. _It must have fallen out when I tripped, and now... oh no... YAYA!_ "Yaya want's to know what's inside" She said enthusiastically and flipped the latch. Amu ran towards Yaya at full speed. "Wait don't ope-" Too late, Yaya opened the lid and instantly a blinding flash of light filled the area. Amu couldn't see anything but she felt herself being enveloped by the Light. _What's going on?!_

**_Curiosity Is A Dangerous Thing._**

**_~You wished to see and set the power free~_**

**Emmalee-san: That's a wrap.**

**Amu: Where is this story leading?...**

**Emmalee-san Ahaha I have no idea, but it's going to be good.**

**Ikuto: Tadase got a better moment than me ;-;**

**Tadase: Finally! I thought I'd be labeled as a creep forever! Maybe this will even turn into a tadamu!**

**Ikuto: *Glares at Tadase***

**Emmalee-san: Sorry but this will stay an Amuto story, I'll try to update as soon as I can.**

**Amu: Read and Review please, I wanna know what happens! **


	3. Black parade

**Emmalee-san: Sorry for the slow update .3.'**

**Ikuto: EXPLAIN *ties Emmalee up***

**Emmalee-san: Life happened -.-**

**Amu: The details?**

**Emmalee-san: I've been *deep breath* Packing, cleaning, cramming in schoolwork, trying to actually get sleep, family drama, my grandparents have come to visit and had writers block O.O**

**Ikuto: Fine, you are free to do the disclaimer...**

**Emmalee-san: Frick, Sadly I don't own Shugo Chara.**

**A\\N: The only thing I know about guns is that your sometimes cock them, there are ammo cartridges and you pull the trigger. so sorry if its not very detailed or literate.**

**Amu: There's going to be guns? 0.0... **

**Emmalee-san: Mayyybbeeee... **

**Amu: *Reads chapter* What the frigging he-**

**Emmalee-san: ONWARDS!**

***Think dark***

**~When I was a young boy; my father; took me to the city~ To see the black parade~** **(**My Chemical Romance**)**

Recap

_Amu ran towards Yaya at full speed. "Wait don't ope-" Too late,Yaya opened the lid and instantly a blinding flash of light filled the area. Amu couldn't see anything but felt herself being enveloped by the light. 'What's going on?!' *End*_

**_Welcome to the black parade~_**

_Cold._ It was dark and uncomfortable, the air was musty and the cement floor she lie on was damp. She shifted unconsciously trying to adjust to a more comfortable position. Hinamori Amu, Probably the most confused fifteen year old in the world at that exact moment. One second she was walking home with her friends and the next she was sitting in some sort of prison. All because Yaya opened the small box Amu had recieved by two strangers who told her not to lose it and warned her not to open it or her life would be put in danger. It wasn't Yaya's fault thought, she didn't know, besides Amu HAD carelessly tripped. Amu rolled over on her side staring at the cracked walls, she'd been here for hours, still no one had come for her, she was probably in an old storage room of some sort. The walls were a depressing shade of gray, assorted cracks, chips and spider webs decorated the walls, A single lightbulb hung from the ceiling adding a creepy glow to the room, the floors were simply white cement. there was no furniture or windows, the only thing that stood out in the room was an oak door in the wall. Amu was getting pissed, she shakily stood up and kicked the door. Still no one came.

Feeling slightly claustrophobic she curled up in one of the cold cement corners shivering. She knew that pretty soon she would lose her sanity and struggled to keep it from overtaking her. _I'll try one last time... _Weakly standing up she kicked the door only harder this time. She jumped back in surprise as the door suddenly swung open, in the doorway stood none other than Nikki herself. She had some sort of black uniform in one hand and a pair of black combat boots in the other. "What?" Amu started to say but Nikki cut her off. "I'll explain after you get changed" the pinkette simply nodded in response and left the room. Amu slowly took off her casual clothes and slipped into the outfit, She wore form fitting long black pants that were made especially for getting around easily, A black tank top and leather jacket. she slipped on boots that went up her calves and ended just below her knees. she wore an ammo belt around her slim waist, which contained other assorted utilities as well. The front half of her pink tresses were tied back to keep them out of her face. Nikki stepped back in the room at the moment and nodded in approval, she motioned for Amu to follow her and Amu complied as she quickly slipped on her black fingerless gloves. **(**She looks pretty much like an assassin xD**) **

They stepped out into a cream colored corridor, Amu followed closely behind the fast-paced Nikki, waiting for her to explain. Several people were walking down the halls as well and wore similar outfits but with different colors. _They must have different teams or something _Amu thought nonchantly. Everyone milled around trying to get to their designated areas. Amu followed closely behind Nikki as they turned down another corridor. Finally after a long silence Nikki cleared her throat catching Amu's attention. "I'm sure you have many questions, but first I'll explain how you got here." Amu nodded. "That box we gave you is like a portal to here, the base of our operation." She gestured to the area around them. "When you opened the box it sent you directly here, now you are to become a squad member and start working for our cause." ~Silence~ "What?!" Amu erupted. "I never agreed to that!" Nikki held up her hand. "Technically you did agree, when _you _opened the box" She pointed out impatiently. Amu spluttered angrily "But did wasn't the one who opened it, Yaya did!" She huffed and pouted. Nikki shrugged "That's not the point, there's nothing you can do about it, besides, we need you as an assassin." Amu paled and turned to Nikki, her honey gold orbs were huge. "A-assassin?" She choked out. Nikki nodded "You have amazing reflexes and fighting ability which is perfect for the squad we're putting you with." Amu's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "How did you know about that?" "We have connections." Nikki replied and Amu raised her eyebrow slightly. Her heart was pounding from all the things that were coming at her all at once. "Well what exactly are we fighting against?" She questioned carefully. "A corporation named Easter." ~Pause~ "Easter... Like the holiday?" Amu asked quizzically and a small smile tugged on the corners of Nikki's mouth before it relapsed into a frown. "No, Easter is a corporation that uses children's dreams and the unfortunate circumstances of others to get their ultimate target, the embryo." She narrowed her eyes. "The embryo contains untold power and ability, if they get their greedy hands on it the whole world might be thrown into chaos." Amu narrowed her eyes "What am I to do?" She whispered softly, the idea of using others to achieve your goal was dispicable. "You'll be trying to prevent these thing from happening, sent to capture valuable information and occasionally have rid someone from the picture." Nikki said getting straight to the point. "We need your help to defeat Easter" Amu was shocked she stared at her for awhile and stopped walking down the hall. "K-kill?" She shivered. Nikki nodded grimly. "Unfortunately yes, this is a dangerous operation and since you haven't a choice otherwise. You are going to be on the assassins team, it will be tough but we have complete trust in you to succeed." "Eh... But... What about school? And my mom?" Amu was worried, she knew keeping secrets from Midori would be wrong, but in the other hand it was needed to save humanity... "Don't worry, all your missions are going to be at night" she handed Amu a cell phone. "This is so we can stay in contact". Amu carefully took the phone, rolling it back and worth between her palms she thought carefully. "Alright..." She said at last. "I'll do it".

Nikki gave her a satisfied smile and pushed open a black sliding door. Instantly two people were standing on either side of Amu. "Welcome to the rebel squad." They said in unison. Amu blinked, It took her a second to process the people standing in front of her. Short with long blonde hair. Tall with shaggy blue hair. It was Rima and Ikuto! "Amu?..." Rima said with her mouth slightly agape, even Ikuto was surprised. Amu could guess that they didn't know she was the 'new team member' but more importantly... _What the hell is going on... Why are they here.. _"Oh I see you three are already acquaintances, I'll leave the rest og the explaining to you then" And before the final word came out of her mouth, Nikki slipped out the door and closed it behind her. Everybody stood in uncomfortable silence. "Welcome Amu-chan" The silence was finallyy interrupted by Nagi who had been sitting overlooked in the corner. Nagi got up and walked across the room towards Amu with Nade right behind him. "Nagihiko and Nadeshiko? You're part of this too?" Amu was now entirely way more confused then she had been in the first place. "Yes" Nadeshiko nodded ever so slightly. "Like you we were chosen because of our abilities, same with Rima and Ikuto" she gestured to them who nodded in response. "Sooo..." Amu turned abruptly to Rima who immeadiatly flinched. "How long have you been keeping this from me" Amu eyed Rima. "We- We'll..." Rima stuttered and looked at the ground. "Two- three years..." Amu looked disappointed. "Why didn't you tell me..." Rima opened and closed her mouth making several attempts to speak, but she couldn't find the words she was looking for. "We couldn't even if we wanted to, It's strictly forbidden to tell anyone outside of the Guardians" Nagihiko said quickly trying to explain. "It's for security measures" Nadeshiko added hastily. Amu still felt confused. "So then... What the heck am I doing here?!" she started to freak out _This is so strange!_ "Calm down, let me explain" Rima shouted and shook Amu by her shoulders, immeadiately calming her and causing her to look at her. "You've been selected to join the Rebel squad as an assassin because of your martial arts attainment and skill with weapons. So far we have four other members, Nagihiko for his navigation skills." Nagi nodded in acknowledgement. "Nadeshiko for her skills with weaponry" Nade gave a soft smile. "Utau is famous for her gadgets and inventions she creates for traps and other necessities, but she isn't here at the moment, she went out with Kukai earlier" Rima rolled her eyes sarcastically, Amu was beginning to understand. "Ikuto is here because of his surprisingly good leadership skills, combat skills and martial arts." Ikuto didn't make any acknowledgement but continue staring at something. "I'm here because I know how to make bombs and fast-acting poisons." Amu nodded _Sounds like Rima_ "I think I understand now..." Amu said slowly. "It surprised me though." "As it did all of us" Nagi countered thoughtfully.

Ikuto was still staring at something. "What are you..." Amu followed his range of eyesight and realized he was looking her up in down, the combat uniform was slightly tight which exposed her curves a bit more than she would have liked. "Y-you.." Amu turned red in the face and spluttered. "Hmmm you look good in that uniform." Ikuto gave her a smirk as she turned even redder. "You perverted hentai!" She screeched and gave him a glare, He simply smirked wider and purposely looked her up and down again, making sure she saw it. Amu was pissed but to Ikuto that only made her look more adorable. Without warning his fist shot out towards her, quickly she blocked it in split second timing. "Wh-" Ikuto jabbed at her with his fists at lightning speed, she blocked them all and went for a sidekick to get him away. He dodged it and spin hook kicked her but she ducked and returned the blow with a reverse punch to the chest. "Hmn not bad" Ikuto remarked. "What the heck are you doing?" Amu hissed, clearly she was losing her patience. "Testing your reflexes" He suddenly grinned like a cheshire cat, grabbing her wrist he flipped her over, she twisted her body in the air and maneuvered into a 360 flip, low blocking at the same time which freed her from his vise-like grip. Landing in a middle stance she round kicked his leg which caused him to topple over, but not before he quickly grabbed her arm and sent her tumbling with him. They fell on the ground with hard impact as Amu landed in his arms. instantly his arms wrapped around her. "That was fun, I haven't fought like that in a long time." he whispered into her ear, in response she punched him in the chest and sprang out of his arms still blushing redder than a fire truck. "Idiot" she stuck out her tounge. "I wouldn't keep a dirty thing like that in my mouth either." He retorted and let out a deep rumble of laughter as he picked himself off the ground, brushing himself off. Amu bit her tongue to keep the venemous words that were on the tip of her tongue locked inside, she needed to keep her temper in check if she was ever going to survive being with this perverted blue neko. "so..." Rima _Casually_ interrupted their bickering. "Have you decided to join?" Amu looked at Rima from where she was sticking her leg out and forcing Ikuto backwards so he couldn't touch her. "I guess so" she shrugged and gave Rima a small smile. Ikuto gripped her leg and roughly pulled it forward, she turned halfway around and stumbled backwards, stopping when someone, obviously Ikuto, caught her and pulled her from behind so her back was against his chest. Ikuto wrapped his arms around her and she struggled to pry them off. "Well then" He whispered, his warm breath tickling her ear. "Welcome to the squad." Amu sighed, she hoped she was making the right decision.

~Three Months Later~

"Are the charges set?" Rima looked up from where she was attaching the last bomb to a pillar. "Yes" Giving him a thumbs up sign she flipped off the pillar and landed beside him. "Then let's rock and roll" Nagi grinned and they ran as fast as they could through the entrance before he pressed the button which ignited all the bombs at once. A huge blast echoed behind them and immediately there was powerful rumbling, brick and fire came crashing down as debris whizzed through the air. the ceiling crack and sizzled, large pieces of the concrete pillars came falling from the sky as the two made it outside. the two smiled at their handiwork before rushing to meet the others at the meeting point.

~Earlier With Utau and Amu~

A blonde streak rushed past one of the soldiers. "Wh-hey!" He shouted and followed after it, they reached a dead end. It was a blonde little beauty! she had a frightened expression on her face, he gave her an evil smirk. "So, there's nowhere to run, krukrukru you're trapped." he grabbed her arm taking in her perfectly molded body and gorgeous face. this guard was a pervert alright. Utau smirked at him, The ginger head guard looked confused for a moment before gasping in pain. Blood pooled to the floor and he stopped breathing. the knife was pulled out of his body and he fell in a worthless heap on the floor. behind him stood the pinkette, a bloody knife in her hand, her eyes raging with emotions that she kept hidden from her face. "tch" she gave Utau a glare and wiped the splattered blood from her cheek. "If you would stop doing that I wouldn't have to kill so many of them." Amu sounded irritated. "But it's much easier than trying to trap them." Utau bit back. "We need to go" She took off running down the hall with Amu tailing her. She sprang into the air duct, Amu flipped into the enterance and re-closed the enterance to the vent. they crept through the vent until they were standing directly over the bosses office. winching Amu slowly through the enterance, the pinkette landed softly on the floor, un-hooking her harness she stealthily crept towards the filing cabinet. _M-P, M-O, M-T... M-U! _She shuffled through the files, and pulled out a locked box marked 'M-U' plugging a hard-drive into the connection port just below the access keyboard she waited for it to process. the numbers flickered by and green appeared on the screen just above the keyboard. _'Password correct, Access granted' _the automated voice said and the locks were released. Amu pulled out a filed marked 'Mutations' and re-locked the case, she was careful to put it back exactly where she had found it inside the filing drawers and slipped the hard-drive back into her pocket. Tucking the file in a special part og her utility belt she quickly dashed over to the harness. slipping it back over herself she gave Utau the signal and was pulled back up into the air duct. they closed the vent just as the door swung open. hastily they crawled back through the vent. "Ikuto, we've got it" Utau whispered through her communication wristwatch. "Good work, meet us at the base" Ikuto's voice crackled through the intercom. "Nade and I will back you guys up." "Hai" Utau responded as Amu jumped stealthily out into the corrider, the blonde trailed after her. they flipped unto the rafers as silently as possible, quickly jumping down when they reached the main exit. the lights flickered then blacked out, suddenly they flipped back on a few seconds later. out of nowhere Utau screamed, she fell to the floor. A middle-aged, heavyset man stood over her with a tazer in his hand. his eyes were crazed, blood trickled from his temples.

Amu kicked the tazer out of his hand and sent it across the room before it shattered against the wall. He growled kicked her leg as she flipped over him, such quick actions caused her to tumble to the floor. "Did you really think it would be that easy you Guardian brats" he snarled and lunged at Amu, surprising her. before she could regain her balance. he drove a knife into her left arm causing her to writhe in immense pain. lifting her up by her fragile neck he started to crush it with his strong grip. "you won't make it out alive little miss, we can't have you ruining Easters perfect plan now can we?" he gripped her neck tighter, nails bit into the flesh of her neck and cut off her air. Amu struggled and kicked out at him, but she missed, any attempts to hit him were useless. Utau lay unconsious in the corner unable to move. Black dots crowded Amu's vision and she felt her body start to give way. forcing all her strength and energy she pulled the knife from her arm which released a large spurt of blood almost blacking her out. unsteadily she cried out driving the knife into his chest which caused him, to release his grip and collapse on the ground. Dead.

She was reeling as she wobbled over to Utau. lifting the unconsious girl over her shoulders she stumbled out of the main exit. "Ah, Hinamori Amu" A man with midnight black hair and emerald green eyes walked slowly over to her. Amu couldn't think straight, the pain was screaming to her, her mind felt like it was stuffed with cotton. "Who... what?" _Damn I can't think straight. _He smirked. "I'm here to deliver a message." she lurched to the right, obviously losing her conciousness. "You may think you've beaten Easter this time, but they know your secrets... they'll use what you're hiding from others against you" he looked bored, stuffing his hands in his pockets he turned to leave. Amu's mind could barely process this. "Wait. who exactly are you" Her breathing was short and ragged, her body was becoming weaker by the moment. the teenage boy turned around slightly. "I work for easter. The name's Arata Okari, don't forget it." and with that he vanished into the dark. **(** I don't own Arata, he belongs to Dark_hell_rose. But we made our OCs together so I asked if I could add him in :3**)** _They know my secrets?... _Amu gave a small cry and collapsed with Utau still on her shoulders, the building burst into flames. she could feel the heat of the fire, she saw dark shapes of stone and wood scattering around, she felt the unbearable weight of Utau weighing down on her shoulders. It hurt, everything hurt. then the world went black.

~SCSCSCSCSCSCSCSCSCSCSCSCSCSCSCSCSCSCSCSC~

"mmnn" Pain shot through her body, her eyelids felt heavy, trying to open them but finding it next to impossible she gave up and decided to rely on her other senses. Her ears picked up the noises of people scrambling around and the crackling of burning wood, her nostrils filled with the scent of smoke and she felt rapid vibrations on the ground. she shifted slightly to the left, instantly her mouth filled with the coppery taste of blood. _Uggg_ A sharp pain shot from her side, she rolled sideways as slowly as her body would allow in order to lessen the pain, gingerly she lifted up her hand weakly touching her side, the rosette felt something warm and sticky all over her side. _Oh...crap _After struggling for a minute or so Amu was finally able to crack her eyes slightly open. Adjusting to the darkness her eyes came into focus, the first thing Amu saw was the flickering of flames around her, averting her gaze to the right she noticed blonde pony tails splayed across the black gravel. _Utau_ Instantly her eyes snapped open wide, she saw Utau was still unconscious and uninjured. Sighing with relief she sat up "Ach!" she yelped as she sat up too fast which sent a burning sensation from her side to her entire body. "Tch" she tore off the sleeve of her uniform and wrapped it around her side tying it at the end to create a temporary bandage. once the pain dimmed a bit she slowly stood up once again carrying Utau over her shoulder she trudged towards the destinated area. Heat penetrated the air, flames danced making everything glow in a yellowish light.

Amu felt dizzy again _Wait, not now_ Her body was trembling, the added weight of Utau only made it harder to walk, a few stumbles and a trip later Amu found herself hurtling towards the ground. A flash of purple. arms caught the Amu before she passed out she saw emerald green eyes filled with concern, it was a familar face. Once again she blacked out.

"Mu" "Mmmn" "hinamori" The pinkette stirred. "HINAMORI AMU" Amu bolted up in shock, her eyes scanned a purple room that obviously wasn't hers, she looked confused to see A frowning violette **(**From chapter one**)** hovering over her with a worried expression on her face. "Good you're awake" She said sighing with relief. "Hnn? where am I?" Amu asked sleepily and let out a small yawn. "You're at my house *ahem* in my bedroom." The girl gave an odd little smile. "Do you remember me Amu?" She looked hopeful. "ah..." Amu tried to scan from deep inside her memory. _A girl with purple hair and emerald green eyes... wait! _It suddenly clicked and her eyes shot open. "Kazumi..." She mumbled. The girl with green eyes grinned happily. "So you do remember me." Pain flashed through Amu's golden eyes. After each beating or abusive thing her uncle had done she would slip quickly out the door and head to the alleys, that was where she met a certain purple headed girl.

_Breaths came out short and pained, the small girl with bubblegum pink hair lay moaning in a crumpled heap at the bottom of the steps. Kicked down all 34 steps had bruised her fragile body, her clouded eyes looked to her uncle who had passed out on the floor from the over consumption of alchohol. Dizzly standing up colors flashed before her, feeling lightheaded she scrambled out of the house. of course Amu knew she couldn't run away, He'd find her anyways so she escaped to the alley nearby. It had become in a way her haven, she always came to collect her thoughts while he was out cold. she would lie on a dumpster or sit in a corner against the cool walls and make plans for a future escape. Of course they never worked and she always ended up with permanet scars or a broken bone here and there. The six year old girl made her way towards her usual spot but noticed it was occupied by another person. Upon closer inspection she realised it was another girl, her Medium length purple hair was matted, many assorted cuts, scars and bruises decorated her pale skin. Twitching at the sound of Amu's footsteps the small girl opened her flashing green eyes that seemed dim, hopless. she grunted and gave the strawberry girl a small glare which was returned in an instant. standing in silence they challanged each other, the outsider daring her to just try and take her stop back. Jumping up Amu shoved her off and proceeded to re-occupy the space before being roughly shoved back by the furious green eyed girl. "My spot." Honey and Emerald clashed together making sparks fly unseemingly around them. Finally after Amu had regained posession for the sixth time she noticed the girl's shoulders sag in defeat. She felt a miserable aura that matched hers. "We can share" She said at last scooching over for the other to take the empty space. The girl looked at Amu in small shock, lowering her head she sat next to her with a sigh. "Thanks I guess." she shrugged. "Names Hinamori Amu, you got a name?" The pinkette figured it did no good to fight. "Mines Kazumi Klien." the purple head responded dryly. "What happened to you?" Amu asked as she noticed the gaping wounds on Kazumi's arms and legs. "The same thing that happened to you I'm guessing." Responded Kazumi as she took note of Amu's own battered body. "Yeah." Amu finally replied after a long stretch of silence. Both shared sympathetic looks as they dwindled in the pain they both experienced. after that meeting they came to know each other better, sneaking off to meet the other when they could. Amu hadn't seen a trace of Kazumi since the night she left, suddenly she realized that she had missed her best friend terribly. more than she would admit to herself._

"I missed you" Amu said as her voice cracked with emotion, eyes brimming with unshed tears. "I haven't seen you since _that_ night" Kazumi gave her a sad smile. "I always wondered if you managed to make it." Amu shot up attacking the shocked violette in a fierce hug. "But you managed to make it out too, I worried so much about you, I should have brought you with me." She broke down and sobbed. "It's alright, we were young, you couldn't anyways. they managed to save me from that house so it's fine." Kazumi's voice trembled as she tried to swallow her own overwhelming emotions. Pulling back they gave each other small smiles, reading each others thoughts. seeing the pain in their faces. it had been hard. their moment of friendship was interrupted by a certain blonde. "Who are YOU" Utau queiried eyeing Kazumi suspiciously. "Utau-" Amu was interrupted by the door swinging open, Utau's question was left unanswered as they all looked at the tall figure standing in the doorway.

_Arata Okari_

**Emmalee-san: Sorry I had to cut this short, it's like two in the morning and I have to get up at 6:30 :P**

**Kazumi: Seriously do you ever sleep? or _eat?_**

**Emmalee-san: You're one to talk, I'm not anorexic like _you_.**

**Kazumi: THAT'S NOT MY FAULT!**

**Arata: *Appears and shoves food in our mouths* Both of you EAT, you're too thin!**

**Amu: Uhhhh...**

**Ikuto: Ok... but whats with the late update? You need to work faster.**

**Emmalee-san: I know, I know, But I'm short on time and wasn't really sure what to write next. I'll try.**

**Ikuto: You better!**

**Yoru & Misaki: Read and Review ~nya! ~Nyan!**

**~Seriously please Review~**

**Arigato Mina!**


	4. My apologies

_**I'm really sorry, but I'm probably either going to delete this fanfic or rewrite it :/ I don't like the plot, besides I read it over and realized throw terrible my storyline for this is. I'm surprised people even read it, I have no idea what to write for the fourth chapter and really have lost all my interest in this.**_

_**My 'assassin' idea was so ridiculous it's not even funny, I was trying to be too fast paced, not really coming up with a proper idea and such, even though it was my first fanfic it was still horrible and I could have done a much better job instead of rushing through like I did.**_

_**my heart is just not in it anymore, if somebody wants this fanfic or something you can have it! now it's officially up for adoption or deletion. **_

_**Im really really really really really really really really really really terribly sorry to all the people reading and following The Secret Box, I'm not sure what else to do.**_

_**Gomenasai**_

_** - Emily_at_random**_


	5. Final Decision

_**[Gomenasai]**_

_**Alright, So I've decided not to delete this fanfic, but, if anyone wants it, It's still up for grabs. **_

_**I'll give it two, maybe three weeks. If no one wants it then I'll probably just delete all the chapters and re-write the whole thing. when I have time that is, I'm a high school student so I'm busy all the time. but I still don't like the fact that I'll disappear for a couple weeks at a time, magically show up and then disappear again :P**_

_**Soooo I figured I'll make an update schedule, that way I can hold myself accountable and you know when the next update will be. I will follow through unless God forbid something happens and I can't.**_

_**I'll come up with it as soon as I can, It's saturday *fist pump* Thank goodness for Saturday! I'm really, very sorry about the inconvenience of all this, this is the last of the author notes, I swear to it! **_

_**If anyone is interested in this Fanfic please PM me. and take it *^* PLEASE. If not, Okay I understand, I'll re-write it -.- But I'm working on another Fanfic and have an idea for another really good one so it might take awhile.**_

_**Thanks for understanding**_

_**-Emily_at_random**_


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